The winner and two runners-up of the Swarovski 2011 URBAN BEAUTIFUL European Design Competition have been announced! From hundreds of entries, 20 semi-finalists were chosen whose designs were displayed at Treasure during London Jewelry Week. The jury panel made up of Annabel Sykes, Director for I-Beads, Laura Brocklebank of Swarovski, Designer Andy Farrow and Della Tinsley co- Director of London Jewelry Week, then convened at Swarovski head offices to choose the top three finalists. This year’s theme was based on the inspiring and powerful urban jungle. Using bold, large crystals in mesmerizing combinations of geometric forms, designs blended into the slick city architecture and created a unique avant-garde style.
Congratulations to Guzel Bakeeva on her winning design: Flavour of the Night. And also congratulations to Babett Császár and Aria Campbell-Kelly for their second and third place designs!
My favorite part about these design competitions is seeing the amazing creativity, talent and craft that goes into each and every design and getting inspired by all the sparkling Swarovski beauty! Check out the winning designs and what the designers had to say about them below!
1st Place: Flavour of the Night
By Guzel Bakeeva, Russia
“When my pencil sketched drawings of this necklace, I imagined the dynamics of the urban night, the movement of vehicles, stormy life of bars and restaurants, over all this deep blue sky and a soft glow of orange lights. I created a necklace-brooch, necklace-transformer, that can be worn as a necklace perfectly for an evening dress, and as a brooch on her shoulder epaulets, that can be worn on a jacket. All details of the necklace are provided with pins, that allow a woman to feel comfortable even at the disco.”
Bakeeva made extensive use of 4mm, 6mm and 8mm Bicones and many different Swarovski crystal pendants in shades such as Crystal Red Magma, Crystal Silver Night, Amethyst and Heliotrope.
The jury panel was won over by Bakeeva’s use of Swarovski Elements and chains to create a striking and original piece that can be used in a variety of different ways – as a necklace, brooch or epaulette.
2nd Place: A Night with Squares
By Babett Császár, Hungary
“I was inspired by Swarovski cubes and squares and the modern asymmetric forms with night city lights. I tried to compose the infinite-seeming possible varieties in one single creation.”
She used 3mm and 4mm Swarovski Bicones, in Indicolite Satin, Indian Sapphire, Jet, Iris Green, and Swarovski Crystal Frames in Crystal Vitrail Medium and Jet.
The panel felt that Császár’s beautifully detailed necklace was incredibly crafted together, showing immense creativity in the use of Swarovski Elements and seed beads.
3rd Place: Two-Forty Five
By Aria Campbell-Kelly, Canada
“The idea behind the necklace I designed for the Urban Beautiful Competition was to create something with an urban modern elegance. To me the prismatic shades of blue, black and gray are the colors of a night time lens flare, enhancing all the different colors in a single spot of light yet in the family of a vision.”
Campbell-Kelly made extensive use of Dark Indigo, Black Diamond, Jet and Crystal Silver Shade to create her beautiful architectural necklace. Her design, with its use of bold Swarovski Element pendants, impressed the jury panel with its structured, modern elegance.
There were twenty semi-finalists and I’ve listed some of my favorite here, for some more sparkle inspiration!
City Lights by Frann Healey, UK
Using Rose, Fuchsia, Fireopal, Colorado Topaz, Amethyst and Chilli Pepper AB Bicones and extensive use of Volcano flatbacks and pendants to evoke eras of British history where modern meets classic.
Lacittapiubrillantedelmondo by Chantal Stalder, Switzerland
Using Crystal Silver Shade, Dark Indigo, Metallic Blue, Montana and Montana AB extensively, Stalder imagined a modern crystallized city for her necklace.
Macadam traffic by Clotet Maria, France
This necklace was made using mainly Swarovski Bicones in 4mm and 6mm in colors such as Light Azore, Light Sapphire, Caribbean Blue Opal, Sapphire, Capri Blue, Pacific Opal, Aquamarine, Indian Sapphire, Metallic Blue, Blue Zircon, Montana, Star Shine, Volcano, Jet, Black Diamond, Crystal, Comet Argent, Alabaster, Morion , Ruby, Citrine, Light Siam, Siam, Sun, Red topaz, Fireopal, Topaz and Jonquil.
Eureka Crystal Beads Blog 